Dis/placing Boundaries in the RomanceWorld
November 19-20, 2010
Call for Papers
“Our firmest convictions are apt to be themost suspect; they mark our limits and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved bythe indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.”
(JoséOrtega y Gasset, The Dehumanization ofArt, 1925)
Visible and invisibleboundaries separate, define and classify places, people, beliefs and ways ofthinking. These constructions encode dominant ideologies that are thenreinforced through the hegemonic discourses of the cultures in which they areproduced. Based on principles of inclusion and exclusion, boundaries shapeidentities by creating schisms between “I” and the “Other”, “here” and “there”,“us” and “them”. As they provide aframework through which to perceive the world, they perpetuate discourses ofdivision. Yet, boundaries are relevant to understanding limitations anddependencies in relation to the “Other”. In an era of globalization, they mayfoster a sense of belonging within small-scale communities and shape localidentities in resistance to the homogenizing forces of standardization.
This conference aims toopen a space for dialogue on the role of the humanities in de/framing,de/stabilizing, dis/placing and re/forming boundaries. We welcome submissionsfrom all applicable disciplines that shed light on the ways in which we canaddress or reshape our conceptions of the boundaries that connect and divideus.
Suggestedtopics include, but are not limited to:
▪Territorial Identities: LiteraryCrossings of National and Regional Boundaries
▪Gendering of the Text ▪ Rewritingsand Translation as Trespass
▪ GenderBending and Other Border Crossings
▪The Body and its Limits ▪ Transgressing Genre(s)
▪Digitalizing Literature: Transcendingthe Traditional Boundaries of the Book
▪ De/centeringthe Canon ▪ Creolization in theRomance World
▪Ethical Frontiers: The Borderline between Self and the Other
▪Challenging Periodization: Literary,Historical, Philosophical Frames
▪ BlurringCategories of Class, Race, Ethnicity
We will also consider papers on other topics (notlisted above) which relate to this year's theme. Presentations can be in English, Spanish,French or Italian and must be no more than 20 minutes long (8-9 double-spacedpages). A contribution of $25.00, tohelp meet the conference costs, will be required of the participants whoseproposals will be accepted.
Please submit a 200-250-word abstract to displaceboundaries@uoregon.edu by September 15, 2010. In yourabstract, please include name, email address, academic affiliation, and A/Vrequests.